Three Meals a Day if You Include Work or TV – November 26, 2019

Three meals a day, if you include work or TV

Americans are devoting less time to meals than they did a decade ago and waiting longer before eating them, according to two USDA analysts. The old idea of three meals a day applies to 21st century America only if you include food consumption that is secondary to something else, such as working or watching TV and movies.

Q&A: Jennifer E. Gaddis on school food, feminism and worker rights

When we think about school meals, we might not immediately think of feminism, workers’ rights, community organizing or curbing the power of corporations. But in Jennifer E. Gaddis’s new book, The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools, school lunch is the framework for serious thinking about politics and people power. Gaddis makes the case that to reform school food, we need better working conditions and pay for cafeteria workers in addition to more nutritious ingredients.

Following an outbreak of foodborne illness that sickened 40 people in 16 states, the FDA urged consumers to “not eat romaine lettuce harvested from Salinas, California.” Romaine from other regions is not implicated but if there is any doubt about the origin of lettuce, “throw it away or return it to the place of purchase,” said the agency on Friday.

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

USMCA still lacks enforceability (Speaker): Stronger provisions are needed to ensure enforcement of the new NAFTA, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who says there may not be time for Congress to approve the trade pact this year.

Vilsack endorses Biden (KCCI-TV): Former Iowa Gov. and Obama-era agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack endorsed former vice president Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination for president because of his “progressive yet realistic view and vision for our country.”

Judge denies Prop 12 injunction (USHS): U.S. district judge Christina Snyder, hearing a meat industry lawsuit against animal welfare standards approved by California voters, denied an industry request for a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the standards set by Proposition 12 and which will require more room for hens, sows and veal calves.

A sixth year of low food inflation? (USDA): After rising by a mild 2 percent this year, food prices are forecast to rise by 2 percent in 2020, which would be the sixth year in a row of lower-than-normal food inflation, which has averaged 2.3 percent annually for the past two decades.

Bankrupt Bumble Bee to sell assets (San Diego Union-Tribune): One of North America’s largest seafood brands, Bumble Bee Food, filed for bankruptcy reorganization and said it will sell its assets to FCF Co., based in Taiwan.